Help me learn to be deer hunter

[Rcmaveric]

My lack of a formal mentor has left me lacking in man skills. My mother constantly apologies but she did her best to raise me. When I first started fishing at 9 she taught me a knot and said "sorry son that's all I know." So a few years ago I decide to hunt when I was 29. I asked her if we had any hunters in the family and she said sorry son, but no. I hit the google and proceeded to learn as much as I can. I understand the wind. I can spot game trails and sign. I get the camo is more of a means to break up the "Human Pattern" than any real concealment. I get the noise control, but here, its almost impossible not to sound like a bull in china store unless you are on a trail, but even then I swear each step sounds like thunder because of dried grass and pine needles.

The concept I am having difficulty in is patterning deer. In live in Jacksonville, Fl we get all 4 seasons in a day. I cant tell where or what they are eating and sleeping or when they are moving. They seam to randomly move through out the day. Tracks are every where though. I am military so I cant spend us much time in the woods as I want and I finnaly got 3 trail cams. Is there a book I could read or a resource to learn the native diet and guide to patterning them? At the moment it seams like its 50 percent skill and 50 percent luck on getting a deer. I have spotted does, but I feel like it was more blind chance than any real skill, like I am blundering through the woods aimlessly and so was the deer and the stars aligned. One time they are bedding at 1300 and have to litteral step on them to get the deer to budge, then they hop 30 yards and stop and call you names. Then the next weekend they are moving at 1300 and spot you from 200 yards away up wind. There is tons of tracks though even some old scraps, fresh pawing marks. Definatetly know when you kick up a buck. If he knows what you are sounds like a horse crashing through the woods. If he doesn't he wants to circle.

The deer signs I know are tracks, scrapes,rubs and scat. Only seen a few old rubs. A couple old scrapes. Tons of old and fresher tracks. The thick stuff here prevents you from going of the "beaten" path. How do I interpret the sign and are there signs I am missing? Like signs of bedding areas and feeding. I have even saw tracks that look like deer fighting. Any tips or mentor ship would be appreciated.

[trails4u]

Pretty wide open question......hard one to answer for sure. Please don't think I'm being anything other than sincere, but my advice is to simply go to the woods and sit as long as you can stand to sit, and simply watch deer. It's pretty amazing what you can learn about them when you don't shoot them. Critical in this..is that you don't frequent the same patch of ground. Deer will only 'pattern' when undisturbed by scent, motion, noise, etc...basically anything that is out of place for them...and it don't take much. For me personally....whether watching or shooting, I won't sit the same stand more than one day a week, and never more than 2-3 times throughout a season. I'm not sure there's a book....although many have been written, and the authors would love to sell you one.....that can really teach deer behavior.

[Boolit_Head]

Kinda sounds like you are slightly off on the idea of patterning. Not saying I am a expert but I start evaluating a property by looking at a aerial photo. Google earth is helpful since you can zoom in fairly close. What I am looking for is likely areas of low brush areas that may hold good bedding spots. The area I hunt is Pine forests so I also look for areas that hold Oak trees where they may be eating the acorns that drop during hunting season. I also look for water sources. Once you have that down you know they will probably be moving between those spots. I start looking for land features that may influence how deer move like pinch points. Google earth can also show you if there was any past cutting on the property that may influence the current habits. Deer tend to stick to spots they feel safe rather than out in the middle of the clearing. even after the trees grow back that can remain a habit. After you figure out where and how they are moving you can then go out and start looking for sign at those areas. Figure out likely stand locations and Wind directions and routes to get there without bumping deer. Walking through the big middle and leaving you scent all over the place is a big red flag for them. All this starts long before hunting season.

My 27 year old daughter just ask me to teach her to bow hunt and get her first deer. Target is next season not this one. Since I have not been hunting in a long time I'm starting this process myself on a 1300 acre piece of public land I have been looking at. Pretty good challenge since I figure I have to put her in a stand within 40 yards since we'll have to be 15 foot up in a climbing stand. I want to give her a reasonable shot and not stretch her range at first.

[kens]

you said

" One time they are bedding at 1300 and have to litteral step on them to get the deer to budge, then they hop 30 yards and stop and call you names. Then the next weekend they are moving at 1300 and spot you from 200 yards away up wind. There is tons of tracks though even some old scraps, fresh pawing marks. Definatetly know when you kick up a buck. If he knows what you are sounds like a horse crashing through the woods. If he doesn't he wants to circle.

The deer signs I know are tracks, scrapes,rubs and scat. Only seen a few old rubs. A couple old scrapes. Tons of old and fresher tracks. The thick stuff here prevents you from going of the "beaten" path. How do I interpret the sign and are there signs I am missing? Like signs of bedding areas and feeding. I have even saw tracks that look like deer fighting. Any tips or mentor ship would be appreciated."
If you can identify signs like that, you're well into it. sometimes deer will layup like a rabbit, and sometimes they move out from a far distance, you never know. you have explained more than a lot of hunters know. you know what to look for, you just need to execute. find a active trail, and setup 50yards off it, and wait for one to show. hunt the dawn (or dusk) opposite a cresent moon. if there no moon at all hunt mid day (moon underfoot)

[CastingFool]

IMO, Kens has given you the best advice so far. Since you already seem to know to identify tracks, etc., locating an active trail and sitting on a stand would be the best choice. Pay close attention to the wind, so it doesn't send your scent to the deer. If they can smell you, even though they can't visually identify you, they're gone. OTH, if they cannot smell you, you can actually move very slowly and they won't be overly disturbed. Having said that, I reiterate that is best to restrict movement as much as possible. I hunt private property, and only have one blind, so I hunt out of the same blind both morning and late afternoons, day after day, until I tag out or season ends. Being in a blind does help keep your scent contained. I prefer to hunt mornings, then you have all day to track a deer if you happen to make a bad shot. When you do get a shot at a deer. before pulling the trigger, make sure you mark the spot (mentally) where the deer is standing. After the shot, if the deer runs off, keep your eyes on it until it goes out of your sight and mark the spot (mentally, again) Then proceed to the spot where the deer was standing when you shot it, and look for signs of a hit, ie, blood, hair (what color? gray or brownish will indicate a body hit, white would indicate a hit in the lower portion of the deer) What color is the blood? bright red usually indicates a heart/lung hit, dark red usually indicates a liver shot. if you see dark red blood, stop right there and wait an hour before tracking. Liver shots are deadly, and will cause a deer to find a spot, lay down and eventually die. If you push them, they can and will go for a looong way before expiring. Heart/lung shot deer will likely expire within 100 yds. A shot high on the lung area will kill a deer, but they will leave a poor blood trail, as the blood fills the body cavity. Conversely, a shot low in the chest area will leave a better blood trail. When tracking a deer, take your time, and go slowly. By mentally marking both spots where the deer was, and where you lost sight of it, can help you find it. Sometimes, they don't start bleeding right away. Once you find blood, you need to scan the area to see if you can determine the direction of travel. Sometimes, the blood is copious, sometimes it is not. You need to pay very close attention to what you see. Sometimes a small spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide can be used to determine if the spot you're seeing is blood or not. HP will make the blood foam up. Don't fret if you don't do things right the first time. Just try to remember what advice you've been given, and you will learn more, as you gain experience. One more thing. Don't know whether you're using a rifle or shotgun, but make sure it is sighted in, and what you can do with it. If you don't already know, see if you can find one of those deer pics that show the heart lung area, from various angles, so you will know where to aim, to make a killing shot. Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress.

[kens]

I carry trail tape, surveyor tape, marker ribbon, whatever you call it. If you have to track one, start marking the trail, after awhile you begin to see somewhat of a straight line through the woods, as to the deer's direction. the direction, and the trail will look different from the ground, than from your tree stand. Mostly they would run away in a straight line thru the woods.

I have setup near scrapes and rubs with little to no noticeable advantage. I think rubs is merely a spot in the woods where his antlers velvet was itching and he scratched a itch.
I think a scrape is a spot in the woods where a deer marked his territory, just like a dog peeing on a mailbox. Neither one guarantees a return visit from said deer.
Also, I have trail cam pictures of deer working a scrape, and they never in the daylight, so why bother??

[Hickory]

I've been getting close to 70% success rate on deer over the last 48 years.
Just be in an area where deer travel the most and shoot them when they show up.
I suppose my success rate would be higher if I really hunted them, but, killing a deer is not a big deal to me. Except this year I would like to have some meat in the freezer, and see how well the 38-55 performes.

[RP]

I learned the most by watching the deer not blasting the first one that shows up. I watch they moments nervous creatures just because they look in your direction dose not mean they see you or smell you may not even be looking at you maybe something behind you. I hunt a few areas where others hunt they shoot at the first thing that shows up which most of the time is a young deer if you wait the older smarter ones will venture out keep waiting and watch the buck with some age will hang back to see what is going on before showing himself. Now when the rut is on they can not think stg and spend their time not on trails but crossing trails looking for the does that are in season. So if your horn hunting that is a different ball game then meat hunting. You can also get a ideal of the age of the deer a hump up back is a young deer a flat back is older, also around here if a young deer has white around the eyes odds are it a button buck (white tails) head size tells you about age also a long headed doe is older sure this varies we have to genes strains of deer running on some of the farms I hunt we judge the size of bucks by the horns and ears if they are out past the ears the buck is 15 to 16 inches. Well one got shot the other day he was 14 inches but past his ears so nothing is rock solid. Most important thing is have fun enjoy the hunt with or without taking a deer. I started out meat hunting if it was brown it was down if there were two I tried to get both I had boys at home and man they like to eat lol. Now I spend more time watching deer and making notes.
I carry a small notebook with me to the woods I draw a map of the area I am hunting note time weather wind and moon. When I see a deer I mark the map where it came into sight and what it did and where it left. Along with any other animals I saw if nothing else when I am gone my kids or grand children can read my notes and make fun of my handwriting and spelling lol.

[kens]

I've been getting close to 70% success rate on deer over the last 48 years.
Just be in an area where deer travel the most and shoot them when they show up.
I suppose my success rate would be higher if I really hunted them, but, killing a deer is not a big deal to me. Except this year I would like to have some meat in the freezer, and see how well the 38-55 performes.

May I ask, ?
Is your 70% meaning you successfully track an bring home 70% of deer you shoot at,
or, you harvest deer 70% of the times you go out in the field, ?

[Rcmaveric]

Thanks for the tips. I figured i would have to find them and get eyes on the deer. I dont have any private property to hunt. I scout and practice tracking during archery and muzzleloader in the public forrest ( Osceola Forrest) dont really trust my equipment being left there, due to work i only got one weekend of archary and one day for muzzle loader. When centerfire starts, Osceola opens to dogs, but then the base property opens. Base is only open on the weekends, if there are no drills. I do leave my equipment there though. Limmited hunting time, plus with work schedule ( first weekend off in 4 weeks, 14 hour days, plus occasional deployments) i just wanted to ensure i was maximizing my wood time. Like what am i looking for, how to interpret it and how to plan.

The sign looked like a herd on random patches of trail. Then poof, tracks gone. I suspected they were only useing trails a little bit. I confirmed it when i found sign heading into thick stuff. Found it by accident. Feels like i am always a day late and a dollar short. Untill i get eyes on them, i cant tell which way they headed, what time or why. I dont really know what a beddding area looks like or where it would be or why. I dont know what they eat, at what times or where. I read that when the deer are bedding, get moving ajd when the deer are moving sit still. How do i tell when they bed or move?

[kens]

you already got enough figured out to go hunting them, just get a bow & a muzzleloader and go after them. get up in a tree stand and wait for one to walk by.
I been trying to go from a meat hunter to a horn hunter, and it is really hard. You got to experience buck fever for yourself. we all did it. you will too. its a adrenaline rush.
Deer are food browsers, they nibble a bit and move on, nibble a bit, and move on. Can you bait in your state? I cannot.
Can you find a persimmon tree bearing fruit? Persimmons are to deer, what catnip is to cats.
Acorns are very high place in their diet, but that doesnt mean they eat all the acorns. In my area, white oaks and live oaks are the preferred acorns. We have a type of oak tree with leaves look like live oak, but acorns look like water oak, deer dont eat them even though the ground is covered.
Deer change their patterns with the season of vegetation available; as seasons change the type of greens (browse), they change their preferred diet.
Have you noticed the little thorny vine with no leaves on it? Deer just love to nibble the leaves off this.

[GhostHawk]

I learned the most by buying a inexpensive 45 lb fiberglass recurve bow and a tree stand.

Start spending as many early mornings and afternoons out there as you can.

Look for places with lots of tracks, food, trails to water, bedding areas out of sight, out of the wind.

The more you watch the more you learn.

I watched 5 does and a forkhorn mid afternoon in a picked corn field. All heads down picking up spilled kernals of corn. Screen door slammed at a farm house 1/4 mile away not an ear twitched. Car door slammed 30 seconds later, nada. Tractor started up, chugged out to the fields, not a head raised.

2 squirrels in the woods below me fighting snapped a branch, every head up instantly, every ear cocked to listen, every eye roaming, looking for movement.

Learn what is "normal" for your patch. And watch, and if your walking and snap a twig, freeze. For at least a minute. I mean nothing moves. Just freeze and listen.

If you can, find where deer hunters hang out, tell their story's. They can be worth listening to. If only to learn what not to do.

[Hickory]

May I ask, ?
Is your 70% meaning you successfully track an bring home 70% of deer you shoot at,
or, you harvest deer 70% of the times you go out in the field, ?

Over the years I had good years when I'd get 3-4 deer per year and years when I'd get none. The last two years I've come up dry. The best year was in the early 80's I got a deer in Ohio one in the Black Hills, and two in Wyoming. This average is based on one deer per year. The more deer I get per year the higher the percentage is.
But, I don't hunt as much as I used to, at least not as many states as I once did, I used to hunt Pennsylvania when my friend was alive, but, no more. Just Ohio now during the gun season.
It's tough getting old and things don't work like they use too.

[Rcmaveric]

Not sure of the land feature from google maps. So one picture is the over all property divided into zones. Each hunter gets to pick their zone on a first come first serve basis, regardless of rank E1 to O10 or veteran or active duty status. Then the other picture is Zone 2 and 3 is what I focus on. I want to explore around that grey areas and find a place for a good blind and another good tree stand spot. We are allowed to bait. I am contemplating a salt lick or feeder (pvc gravity type). Feeders aren't the best idea because of money, refiling and hogs (they will destroy a feeder). I do have a peanut butter lick by my tree stand and cam.

I hike explore and take notes. Figured if I keep it up eventually a possible pattern will emerge. I am more of a meat hunter. Wife wants a trophy, I could care less. I cant even trick a doe. Start small I guess. Maybe another season empty handed will give me the knowledge to be successfully next year. I am trying to figure out now is what kind of day/night they will bed in the field and what kind of day will the head to the thickets.

There is dense brush and non pine areas, though I cant tell what kind of trees they are. Maybe a few oak patches, but I doubt they are old enough to drop acorns. They creepy and scraggly looking about 20-30ft tall. I have never seen acorns in there. There are packs of hogs though so between the hogs and deer they may be vacuuming them up. Water isn't hard to find. There is lots of swamps and mud.

How does wheather (IE. Temps and winds and rain) effect them? Not sure I will ever know what affects their bedding choice. Does the moon phase really influence their movement times? What I normal do, meet at the main gate at 0500 for muster then head in. I get dressed and ready out there and then study a my map and let the wind decide which way I will stalk/track hunt (don't want my man stink blowing through there). Once the sun rises I stalk in. I figure my flash light and bumbling in the dark will be more damaging than good, plus if something kicks up I want to shoot it. I dedicate one day out there stalk hunting/learning and the second day to sitting in my tree stand. With the pine trees its hard to find a tree thick enough for a stand. That's why I have one over the light traffic area and not the heavy traffic area. I hope to get a climber soon, but for now I have climbing sticks a very uncomfortable fixed stand that took me 2.5 hours to set up. I use a cargo strap to fasten myself to the tree so incase I fell a sleep, I wouldn't fall out.

For guns I use my 12gauge while stalking. I have a .270 with cast bullets very accurate out to 150 yards for when I in the stand. Still tuning my 30-30 loads. Might try and get up early to finish my test shots.

Lots of good advice. Lets me know I am doing it right. I was doubting myself from lack of success. Lol in three years of hunting I only shot one doe, thanks to my step cousin out in Tennessee. The built a new golf coarse on the edge of my birth town.

[kens]

I think you are trying to get too technical.
I tried looking at Google Earth, and compare it to the actual terrain I walk off, it never looks like what you expect. It wont let you see deer from a satellite picture.
I dont really care if deer are coming or going, bedding or browsing, all I want is them to get in front of my scope.
I do believe they trail parrallel to changes in terrain, or parrallel to a roadbed.
I think they are more active just before, and, just after a big weather swing.

[Rcmaveric]

Your are probably right. I am over thinking it and trying to hard. I just need to pick a likely spot and sit, wait, and watch. I appreciate every ones input. Just trying to figure out how much is skill and how much is luck. Right place right time. Deer has to be lucky its entire life, I just need to get lucky a few times a year.

[rondog]

No smoking in the field, and watch what you eat and drink too. Don't bring any strange smells into their world. Or noises. Their senses of sight, smell and hearing are very acute, they rely on them to stay alive.

[GhostHawk]

I looked at those images. What got me curious was 2 points. What are they eating, and where? Where are they drinking? Are there small puddles scattered? Or only one source?

If you can find where they are moving, then find the right time to be there. Then the job is 3/4 done.

Deer love to travel where the traveling is easy. But they like at least partial concealment. A bush or shrub they can pause behind and most likely not be seen.

In more open country a depression as little as 6 inches with slightly taller grass is a highway. As long as it heads in the direction they are going.

As for bedding, they are past masters of finding a spot where it is impossible for anything to approach without them hearing it. Like in the middle of a wet cattail swamp, with a single hummock the size of a garbage can covered with grass. 2 jumps in any direction and he's out of sight.

[Rcmaveric]

Water is scattered around in puddles and the area is really a mix of dry and muddy patches. The two spots I marked on the map normally hold water. The one in the field is like a huge puddle, then the other is a trail that is flooded like a creak, about calf deep. That field, you can loose people in because the grass is so high. Last year, we had a few deer go into and you could barely see their butts when the jumped threw it, owe and the didn't make a sound going through it.

I think I might have figured out their travel corridor. I just need to go verify it and set up a natural blind. All the areas are pretty easy to travel through. Its a planted pine and the Palmetto brush makes walls and turns the place into a natural maze.

I have no idea what they are eating or eating at. Water and possible bedding area I have figure out. Cams are up to hopefully see what time they are moving.

[Rcmaveric]

I do practice good scent control witu scent control products. Then store my clothes in a tupaware container with pine bowes. I play the wind when scouting. Sadly i am a smoker though and try not to smoke while scouting or hunting, but when i do i do dont leave the butts. I put them in a zip lock bag and spritz down with some scent away. I got some nicotine gum and that helps.